The Use of In Situ Behavioral Skills Training to Improve Staff Implementation of the PEAK Relational Training System

The authors coached direct-care staff to run PEAK language lessons with autistic learners. They used in-situ behavioral skills training: model the step, let the staff practice, give feedback right away.

Three staff-child pairs joined. The team watched each lesson, scored how closely staff followed the PEAK script, and tracked the kids’ correct answers.

Staff followed the PEAK steps more accurately after BST. Two of the three children also gave more correct language responses.

Gains stayed high when the coach stepped back, showing the brief training stuck.

Hahs et al. (2019) ran a similar study and hit 90 % integrity after one 2-hour workshop. Their larger, clearer effect now supersedes the 2016 data, so you can feel even safer using BST for PEAK.

Jimenez-Gomez et al. (2019) stretched the same BST package to naturalistic play. Staff mastered praise and incidental teaching, proving BST works beyond table-top protocols.

Davis et al. (2021) and Clay et al. (2021) moved BST into virtual reality and telehealth. Trainers reached mastery without real clients, giving you low-risk options when in-person coaching is tough.

You no longer need long PEAK workshops. A short BST round—model, practice, feedback—lifts staff fidelity fast, and the 2019 follow-up shows the boost can hit 90 % in a single afternoon. Pair that with VR or video packages when staff are remote. The pattern is clear: BST is your go-to tool for turning any protocol into accurate, day-to-day action.